Five Things Shutoku Ruined
by fantaestic
Summary: Shutoku was one of the Three Kings. So it only fit that their team was full of royal idiots.
1. The First Thing They Ruined

**A/N: **Helloooo again! If you guys read Five Things Kaijou Ruined, then you know that some people wanted to see it being written for another team, and here it is! Shutoku's fic was first because I had ideas for them first, basically, but I've also got ideas for Touou and Kirisaki Daiichi, so be on the lookout for those too. Hopefully you all enjoy this just as much as you enjoyed Kaijou's story. For some reason Shutoku is actually really hard to get in character for me? So if they're a little OOC, I'm really sorry. Thank you for reading and reviews would be lovely. I'd love to hear what you guys think of this! Thank you!

_Because the Shutoku regulars were jerks, that's why._

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**i. Midorima's perfect shots**

* * *

The basketball was bounced twice and the sound of it hitting against the clean hardwood floor resounded through the gym. It flew through the air and went cleanly in the basket on the other side of the court.

_One._

Midorima was the only one in the gym. Practice had ended not long ago and everyone else had left. That day's lucky numbers were two and four, so Midorima planned to shoot twenty-four baskets and then leave quickly. He was tired and had an exam the next day he needed to study for anyway.

_Two._

He grabbed another basketball from the cart placed next to him and got in position to shoot when the door to the gym swung open and in stepped Ootsubo. The Shutoku captain looked at Midorima with faint interest, asking him, "What are you still doing here?" as he walked across the back side of the gym.

"Practicing," was the simple reply. Midorima paid no heed to the interruption and shot the ball. It made a high arc before perfectly going through the net with ease. _Three_. He turned to his captain as he grabbed his fourth basketball from the cart. "Why did you come back?"

Ootsubo lazily pointed to the locker room. "I forgot something." He looked at the basketballs rolling around the court and then back up at Midorima. "Don't forget to clean and lock up when you're done."

Midorima nodded in understanding. It wasn't like he needed any reminders, though. He did this everyday and never forgot to clean up after himself. It was always in his best interest to stay tidy, since he knew Miyaji would have his head if he didn't. He watched as Ootsubo walked into the locker room, and waited until the door slammed shut after the third year before shooting his fifth basket. He always hated it when people watched him while he practice. It wasn't like he was afraid or nervous, it was just that he preferred the peace and quiet while he shot. He had enough of the noisiness during school and practice with the rest of the team. After practice was his time to relax and shoot with ease.

But of course, that was almost never possible being on a team like Shutoku.

As Midorima got ready to shoot his sixth basket, the door to the gym burst open again. It was almost in sync to the door of the locker room opening, funnily enough. While Ootsubo stepped out of the locker room with his gym bag, Miyaji and Kimura stepped into the gym with their school bags. The former of the two wore a scowl and Midorima started to wonder if that was just his resting face.

"What are you two doing here?" Ootsubo asked. He sat down on a nearby bench and looked up at the other two thirds years curiously. Apparently he wasn't ready to leave the gym just yet.

Midorima adjusted his glasses in annoyance.

Miyaji answered for both himself and Kimura. "I had to go talk to a teacher and he stayed after with me." Kimura nodded, as if to confirm this fact. Miyaji gave Midorima a side glance. "The gym lights were on so we were just making sure someone didn't forget to turn them off again."

The sound of a basketball loudly swishing through the air and into the basket echoed through the gym.

_Seven._

Ootsubo raised an eyebrow at Midorima. That shot seemed to have much more power and force to it than the ones before.

Midorima narrowed his eyes at his easily irritated senpai, and though the rest of him looked calm, he was annoyed and angry at the constant interruptions to his practice. "That was one time," he said, replying to Miyaji's not so subtle comment towards him. "I came right back once I remembered."

"Yeah, after I had already turned off the lights and locked the door," Miyaji stated, scoffing and rolling his eyes.

Before anyone could say anything else, the gym door opened once more, much to Midorima's chagrin. Takao strolled in with a huge grin on his face. He greeted his senpais, but only succeeded in annoying them with his overtly cheerful presence.

His eyes lit up at the sight of Midorima. "Hey, Shin-chan," Midorima grunted at the sound of the ridiculous nickname, "are you done with practice yet?"

Midorima pinched his nose bridge and sighed. "No," he said. His voice had an irritated edge to it. "I keep getting interrupted." He shot a look at the three eldest players in the gym, and though it only lasted a split second, Takao saw it and immediately understood why Midorima was more pissed off than usual.

But Takao Kazunari existed to make Midorima's life a living hell. So, instead of suggesting that they all leave Midorima alone, like a good friend would have, he shot Midorima a cheeky grin and loudly said, "Well, since we're all here, why don't we all go out to eat after Shin-chan finishes shooting? I'll even pay."

Midorima wished his lucky item of the day was a pair of scissors, or something sharp instead of a useless teddy bear. He felt his eyes twitching, a surefire sign of an oncoming headache, a common thing when around his teammates for too long.

"That sounds good," Kimura said, rubbing his stomach. "I'm hungry." He sat down on the bench next to Ootsubo, who seconded Kimura's statement.

Miyaji followed Kimura's lead and also sat down, but he just grunted his approval at the plan instead. "You better finish quickly," he added, "or I'm leaving."

Midorima was tempted to smart off to his senpai, and even opened his mouth to say something about not wanting him there anyway, but thought better of it. Knowing Miyaji, he'll probably just threaten him with a pineapple or yell about running him over with Kimura's truck again. Midorima didn't want to give the third year another reason to whine and complain.

Fortunately, the other four regulars sat contentedly on the bench, patiently waiting for Midorima to finish and chatting quietly amongst themselves.

It wasn't until after Midorima shot his sixteenth basket that someone decided to disrupt him again.

Unsurprisingly, it was Miyaji.

"Can you hurry up?" he asked exasperatingly. He was starting to get impatient and having Takao talk his ear off wasn't helping any. "How many baskets do you need to make? You know you'll make every single one," he muttered bitterly.

The shooting guard ignored his senpai and just shot his seventeenth basketball. "I have seven more." Midorima fixed his glasses. "If there's no more interruptions, then I'll be done in less than five minutes."

He gave a pointed look to Miyaji, who just rolled his eyes and turned away from Midorima's gaze, mumbling something incomprehensible. Midorima was sure he heard something about a certain yellow and green fruit being mentioned.

But before Midorima could even take his next shot, Kimura stood up and headed onto the court. "This is boring." Everyone watched as he got into a defensive position in front of Midorima. "I want to see if I can block you," he said, grinning widely. He motioned for Midorima to shoot. "Come on, go ahead and shoot already!"

Midorima resisted the urge to scream in front of his senior. He was getting more than irritated now, and the constant disruptions weren't helping. Was it so hard to just shoot a basketball in peace? Nonetheless, he dribbled the ball twice to ready it for a shot anyway. Kimura could never block his shot, he never could no matter how many times he tried during practice. No one could.

With a flick of his wrist, the ball went flying. And just like that, the eighteenth basketball went cleanly through. Kimura never even had a chance against it.

"Aww, come on, Midorima. That was just a lucky shot," Kimura teased, though everyone knew it wasn't just luck. "Try me again."

An annoyed grunt from the bench reached the two players on the court. "Kimura, stop fooling around. You heard him. He can finish faster without any interruptions. The faster he finishes, the faster we can go eat." Miyaji glared at his fellow third year, but it had no effect on the other. Kimura was far too used to Miyaji's constant angry outbursts and complaints to let it affect him any.

"Come on, shoot again." Kimura got into defensive position again, and paid even more attention to every little move Midorima made.

It was no use, however, and Midorima easily shot the ball over his head, making his nineteenth consecutive basket.

"No, no," Miyaji suddenly said. He stood up and headed onto the court where Kimura was currently bothering Midorima. "You're doing it all wrong." He apparently had had enough of Kimura embarrassing himself. While Kimura looked at Miyaji curiously, Midorima just ignored him (like always) and got into position to shoot his twentieth ball.

Miyaji watched the shooting guard carefully and waited until the moment Moriyama held the ball up to make his move. In one quick swift motion, he swiped at Midorima's glasses. Midorima saw it coming, though, and dodged Miyaji's attempt at a steal. He shot the ball with perfect precision and it landed through the net on the other side with a satisfying _swish_.

Miyaji frowned, having fully expected his surprise attack to work. "What are you? Are you even human? How did you see that?"

But before Midorima could even say anything, Takao jogged up to them and interrupted. "Don't you know, Miyaji-senpai? Shin-chan is the best!" Takao patted 'Shin-chan' on the back, much to his growing annoyance. "He sees almost everything." When Midorima raised an eyebrow at this, Takao smiled proudly. "What? _I'm_ the one that actually sees everything. I have the hawk-eyes after all. You come second after me!"

Midorima rolled his eyes at the overconfident point guard and just grabbed another basketball. He didn't know why everyone had joined him on the court, but he didn't really care as long as they left him alone long enough to make four more baskets.

But with teammates like his own, being left alone was never an option. The three players tried different tactics to get Midorima to miss his shots (for what reason, he didn't know, but it was probably just because they were all assholes), but nothing worked on the tall shooting guard. He made shot after shot without any of the three able to block him.

Ootsubo had been on the sidelines watching this all with amusement. He'd let his teammates pull all the jokes they wanted, but at least he never participated in them. And for that, Midorima was grateful, sort of.

When Midorima picked up his finally basketball, Kimura, Miyaji, and Takao seemed to have given up on blocking him. He couldn't help but smirk as he saw their retreating forms. No one could mess up his perfect shooting record.

He dribbled the ball twice, like he always did before shooting, and then held the ball up. All it would have taken was a single flick of the wrist and Midorima's twenty-fourth basket would have been completed and everyone would have been merrily on their way to eat.

Midorima didn't even get that far.

Takao Kazunari had a death sentence, apparently.

Midorima was so focused on making his final basket, that he hadn't noticed the fact that Takao wasn't retreating back to the bench. Instead, he was walking backwards to get a running head start.

Just as Midorima got ready to shoot, Takao tackled him.

The basketball fell from Midorima's hands and rolled to Ootsubo's feet, having never even come close to the hoop on the other side.

A loud crash echoed through the gym, and then, "Takao! I'm going to kill you!"

Everyone did their best to stifle their laughter, but it was futile. The fact that the 176 centimeter point guard could tackle the much taller shooting guard to the ground was a hilarious image that will forever be engraved in their minds. And it will now always be brought up to embarrass him.

Takao got back on his feet first. Midorima was still struggling to get up. Even so, he ran away from the angry teen just in case, he didn't want to take any chances. Although he _did_ turn around and look down at Midorima, as if to mock him. "You better wait to kill me. If I die no one will pay for your dinner!" he shouted. His face showed no remorse and it actually looked pretty gleeful, which only added more fuel to the fire.

Miyaji seemed to have an opinion on the matter too (but when does he not). With narrowed eyes pointed towards Midorima, he screamed, "If you touch him before he pays for my food, I will run you over with Kimura's truck!"

Ignoring his senpai's threats, Midorima managed to collect himself and started to chase after the hawk boy. It didn't take long to catch up to him and pretty soon, he was dragging the bothersome point guard out the door.

Everyone heard Takao's cries and him pleading Midorima to be merciful on him, but no one went after to help.

A mad Midorima Shintarou wasn't something _anyone_ wanted to deal with.

"So are we still going out to eat?" Kimura asked as he looked over at Miyaji, who shrugged and looked over to Ootsubo.

The captain looked thoughtful for a split second before he nodded. "Why not? Takao's paying, after all."

No one seemed to care that said payer was currently being beaten up right outside the doors of the gym.

Besides, Takao left his bag on the bench. If worst came to worst, the third years could just take his wallet and go, something they would definitely not have a problem with.


	2. The Second Thing They Ruined

**A/N:** Second chapter here! This one featuring Takao. I think I've finally gotten a strong grip on the Shutoku characters, so hopefully they're not _as _OOC as before? /crosses fingers. Anyway, I'm writing a few Kirisaki Daiichi fics (that probably will never see the light of day) to get a feel of their characters because that team will be the next one featured in this series, but _why_ are the other KiriDaii players aside from Hanamiya not included in the character list? Oh well, I guess. Not much else to say, except thanks for reading and favoriting and reviewing!

_It ran in the family, apparently._

* * *

**ii. Takao's eye**

* * *

Somewhere in Tokyo, a high school basketball team was currently being destroyed on the court by one of the Three Kings. Shutoku was killing their opponents, which happened to be some little high school in the corner of Tokyo. It was just a scrimmage, but the Shutoku players were playing as if they were competing in the Inter High tournament.

Takao had the ball in his hands and was being guarded by an abnormally tall player, taller than even Midorima. Luckily though, his basketball skills weren't on par with his height. Takao easily passed the ball to Midorima, who shot it from the half court line for another three points.

It was only the second quarter, with less than a minute left, but the other team's score was embarrassing. _97 – 72_. Shutoku's score would be higher, but Midorima insisted on taking it easy that day, citing something about Oha Asa predicting bad luck if he tried too hard. Apparently to Midorima, taking it easy meant shooting three pointer after three pointer (but no one was complaining).

The buzzer sounded, and the third quarter ended without the other team being able to score more than six points. Both sides headed to their benches, Shutoku looking much less tired than their opponents, who were literally dripping with sweat.

"Good job, everyone." Ootsubo downed a bottle of water and wiped the sweat off his brow. He nodded at Takao and Midorima, the two responsible for most of their points that day. "Keep up the good work."

Midorima just grunted but Takao beamed at the compliment. "Just leave it to up to us, Captain. You know Shin-chan and I can-" he stopped mid sentence when he noticed a player on the opposing team that wasn't there before. "Who's that?" No matter how hard Takao tried, he couldn't for the life of him recognize the player.

Everyone on Shutoku's team looked in the direction Takao was pointing at, and they went slack-jawed at the mere sight of their new opponent. The new player, donning a number 14 jersey, looked huge compared to his teammates. And he was built too, even more so than Ootsubo. He wasn't just a tall and lanky kid like the one that had guarded Takao earlier, no, he was different. Number 14 had some pretty decent muscles on him, and a scary expression to boot.

"I've never seen him before," Miyaji said. "He looks foreign." They all agreed to that statement. He must have been one of those exchange students that some schools accepted to help build up their athletic teams.

Ootsubo just shook his head and gathered the team up. "Don't pay him any attention. He's probably just like the rest of the team, all height and no skill. Just play like we have been and we'll be fine."

Oh, how wrong he was.

It was more than halfway through the third quarter and Shutoku was drowning. The new player was not all height and no skill, in fact, his basketball skills seemed to be even greater than some of the players on Shutoku (though they'd never admit it). Shutoku had only managed to score five points while their opponents were catching up, having scored more than 20 points. Though Shutoku was still in the lead, they were slowly losing the gap they had created in the first half.

Number 14 was a well-rounded player. He could shoot threes that could rival Hyuuga's and could make it from one end of the court to the other in mere seconds. Takao had to admit that he was impressed. Whoever this mystery player was, he was good, and he might be the one to give Shutoku a run for their money.

Every time Takao got the ball, he would try his best to pass it to Midorima, but nine times out of ten, the foreign exchange student would get in the way and steal the ball, only to make it all the way down the court to score a basket for his own team. Though it frustrated Midorima and the rest of Shutoku, Takao found it a bit funny. Recently, their games were getting boring and predictable. They weren't as fun since it was obvious who the victor would be. But now, it was actually a real challenge.

Takao looked at the clock and noticed that the third quarter was ending and their lead was decreasing. The buzzer rang and players from both teams looked at the scoreboard in surprise.

_105 – 98_

A mere seven point difference now separated the teams. Shutoku walked to their bench, much more tired and sweaty than they were at the end of the last quarter. With the addition of the new player, the Shutoku members were being forced to work much harder than before, something Midorima wasn't happy about.

"This is contradicting with my fortune," he said, pushing his glasses up angrily. Sweat shone on his forehead and he wiped it off with a towel Takao had handed him. "The harder I work, the worse the outcome is. It's a lose lose situation."

Miyaji rolled his eyes and looked about ready to give the fortune obsessed player a piece of his mind, but Takao quickly intercepted, steering the conversation in a different direction. "There's ten minutes left, if we just keep up our work, we can keep our lead."

Ootsubo nodded in agreement and then looked at Midorima. "If you don't want to work so hard, fine, sit on the bench then." Midorima looked up at him in shock, apparently not expecting to be told to sit out. It was evident that Ootsubo had finally had enough of Midorima's foolishness. It seemed as if the shooting guard had surpassed his three wishes for that day. "We don't need you to carry the team."

Midorima opened his mouth to say something back, but once again Takao had to intervene before Midorima said something to anger the third years anymore. "Shin-chan doesn't mean that, right?" He looked towards his best friend hopefully, and breathed a sigh of relief when Midorima nodded slightly, though the nod did have a hint of annoyance. "Like I said, there's another quarter left, which means we have time to widen our lead."

Before anyone could say anything that would inevitably offend someone else, another buzzer sounded and the fourth quarter began.

It started out great, it really did. Shutoku was keeping up with Number 14. Every point he made they fought back with their own points. While the gap didn't widen much, they were still in the lead, and that was all that mattered.

"Takao!" someone shouted.

Takao didn't have a chance to reply when the ball landed itself into his hands. His hawk eyes activated immediately, but he quickly found that everyone was guarded. Midorima wasn't an option as he was being defended by Number 14. Ootsubo was the one who had passed the ball to him and was still on the other side of the court. Kimura was also standing too far away. Miyaji was somewhere behind him, so maybe if he just turned slightly he'd be able to-

Everything suddenly went black and Takao Kazunari went down.

He awoke a while later to find four faces – all of which had different expressions portraying different levels of concern – staring back down at him. Groaning, he sat up, or at least he tried too. He hadn't noticed before but his head was killing him and he could barely see out of his left eye. Sitting up was not an option at the moment.

"Where am I?" he asked. It didn't look like he was in the hospital. The walls were too bright of an orange to be a hospital and what he was laying on was too hard and rough on his back to be a hospital bed.

Midorima looked at him and scoffed, though his expression did soften a bit. "Our locker room," he answered. Midorima turned his head away and tried to hide his face, but Takao could see the faint trace of worry in the shooting guard's expression.

Takao smiled, though it hurt to do so. "What happened?" he asked with a groan. He put his arm over his eyes. The room started to look way too bright. "And why can't I see out of my left eye?"

"Maybe because you're covering your eyes with arm, idiot."

The injured point guard couldn't help but laugh. It was comforting to know that even in a time of distress, Miyaji was still the bitter and grumpy senpai like always. Suddenly, he sat up, ignoring the pain in his head, startling the other players in the room. It was then that he realized he had been laying on an old and rickety bench in the middle of the locker room. But that didn't matter any more, neither did the fact that his eye felt swollen. "Did we win the game?"

Ootsubo slumped down in his chair and put his head in his hands, suddenly feeling exhausted. He was so, _so _glad to have players that had their priorities straightened. "Because the game is more important than your health, right?" he muttered, but no one heard him.

Miyaji looked down at him. Takao's heart broke at the expression on his senpai's face and he immediately knew the answer. "How much did we lose by?" he asked quietly, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.

Miyaji started to laugh and Takao looked up at him in confusion. "You actually think we lost? I'm disappointed, freshman. I thought you had more faith in us." He laughed again, as if he couldn't even imagine the idea of losing.

"Did you really think we would let them win after what they did to you?" Midorima asked. He raised an eyebrow at Takao while he continued to tape up his fingers.

Kimura spoke up for the first time. "Actually, it was Miyaji's fault that Takao got a black eye."

Miyaji didn't seem to agree with that though and scowled at Kimura. "That's not true! Stop spreading lies or I'll hit you with a pineapple!"

Kimura rolled his eyes. "You can't hit me with one if I don't give you one."

While Miyaji and Kimura continued to bicker, Ootsubo was the only one with enough sense to explain to the extremely confused point guard what had happened. "You were about to pass the ball when Miyaji hit you in the eye with his elbow. You fell down and were taken back here while we subbed in another player. We did win though, so no worries."

Takao nodded, finally comprehending everything. "Miyaji-senpai must have a really pointy elbow, huh?" he joked. He didn't seem to mind the fact that for the next week or so, he'd be walking around with a big black eye.

Miyaji heard this and immediately got defensive. "It's not my fault!" he said, though everyone knew it was. "It's genetics! Everyone in my family has a sharp elbow."

Takao just laughed at the absurd comment while everyone else rolled their eyes.

The following week, every time someone asked Takao what happened to his eye, he would just smile and give them a simple answer. "Because of Miyaji-senpai's genetics."

Miyaji was fuming when word got around that he had bad genes. "Look at my face!" he shouted one day during lunch. "How can you all say I have bad genes?!"

"Your face _is_ the reason we say you have bad genes," Takao offhandedly said without thinking. He immediately knew he should've kept that comment to himself.

It took both Kimura and Ootsubo to restrain Miyaji from giving Takao another black eye to match his left one.


	3. The Third Thing They Ruined

**A/N: **This was such a fun chapter to write, and I don't really know exactly why? But it was. Anyway, not much to say today, except thanks for reading and reviewing! I hope you guys like this and let me know what you think about this! Also, would you guys rather Kirisaki Daiichi's story or Touou's story to be posted next? I'm up to writing whichever first, so it doesn't matter to me. Let me know which you'd rather read?

_He should've never let Miyaji take the truck for a spin._

* * *

**iii. Kimura's pickup truck**

* * *

In Kimura's defense, he had thought Miyaji was a good driver. It was evident, after the first stop sign the small forward breezed past, that Miyaji was not. In fact, Miyaji was the epitome of a stereotypical bad Asian driver.

Thankfully it was night time, and the streets were clear from pedestrians, as well as most cars. Unfortunately, Kimura was in the passenger seat praying for his life to spared, instead of safe in his house like he should've been.

"You _do_ have your license right?" Kimura asked, his voice sounding doubtful. It was the third time he'd ask that, but it was also the third time Miyaji had driven onto the sidewalk.

Though Kimura couldn't see Miyaji's eyes because – thankfully – they were trained on the road, he could tell that Miyaji had rolled them. "I do, so stop asking."

"I'll stop asking once you drive like you have a license," Kimura muttered under his breath.

He didn't know why he had stupidly agreed to it. Miyaji had always been making offhand comments about driving the truck one day, but they were _jokes_, and Kimura never actually expected Miyaji to be serious when he asked the other day during practice. Kimura had put it off as another one of Miyaji's stress induced threats and jokingly agreed, saying that he can come drive it anytime he wanted. He didn't actually expect Miyaji to come knocking on his door at ten o' clock on a Friday asking for the keys to his parent's pickup truck.

Miyaji was a persistent person. A stubborn and scary one, at that. Somehow he managed to manipulate Kimura to give them the keys. Somehow he also managed to coerce Kimura into being his passenger.

So many stupid decisions were made in such a short time period.

At least Miyaji wasn't going to run anyone over with the truck, at least Kimura hoped not.

"You're parents are going to kill you once they find out you lent me the keys," Miyaji said while they were waiting at a red light.

Kimura's eyes nearly fell out of his head as he looked at his teammate incredulously. "Excuse me? You're the one that basically forced your way into my home and blackmailed me to come with you. If anyone's getting killed, it's going to be you!" Suddenly, Miyaji stepped on the gas and they sped off. "If you don't kill me first, that is!" Kimura shouted. "Slow down!"

"Now what's the fun in that?" Miyaji asked, not seeming to care that he had passed yet another stop sign. "Stop signs are for losers, anyway," he reasoned.

Kimura started to write his will in his head.

_I'll give my gym locker to Takao and my signed basketball to Ootsubo. I'm sure they'll appreciate it. Midorima gets nothing, and if Miyaji gets out of this alive, he gets nothing too._

Miyaji noticed how Kimura looked paler than usual in the seat next to him and he raised an eyebrow. "What is up with you? You look sick."

Kimura chose not to reply, afraid that if he did he might _actually_ get sick. His parents would definitely be wondering why there was a mess in the front seat if that happened.

"See?" Miyaji gestured in front of them as he drove down the street. Kimura yelled at him to keep his hands on the wheel but that piece of advice fell on deaf ears. "I'm driving perfectly. And I've only ran, like, what, one red light? That's a reasonable number."

_No, Miyaji, it actually isn't a reasonable number_, was what Kimura wanted to say, but he was too busy trying to make sure Miyaji didn't run over any poor grandmothers crossing the street with their groceries.

"Where do you want to go? I'll drive you anywhere," Miyaji asked as he hit the curb for the fourth time.

"Home," was the short reply. Miyaji pretended he didn't hear that and turned in the opposite direction from Kimura's house.

Kimura really wondered how Miyaji got his license. Was the person testing him blind? Did Miyaji threaten someone to get his license? Kimura was highly suspicious about the circumstances in which Miyaji took his driver's test now that he was unlucky enough to experience Miyaji's driving skills first hand. Though he would never question him about, lest Miyaji kicked him out and ran over him with his own truck.

At least Miyaji seemed to be slowing down. He was now only going a mere 10 kilometers per hour over the speed limit instead of the usual twenty he had going at the start of their pickup truck adventure. Though of course ten miles over the limit with Miyaji might as well have been thirty. The small forward drove like a maniac no matter how fast he was going.

"You know," Kimura started to say as he gripped onto his chair to keep himself upright, "this truck isn't meant to be driven so fast." His parents owned a pickup truck, for god's sake! They didn't own a fancy sports car. Pickup trucks weren't exactly meant for speed like a Lamborghini was.

Miyaji sharply turned right and Kimura knocked his head against the window. Miyaji snickered, a tell-tale sign that he did that on purpose. "You need to stop talking and just enjoy the ride."

Kimura didn't bother replying. Arguing with someone like Miyaji was pointless. Miyaji had a talent for twisting words to win arguments, even if he was the one in the wrong.

With a sigh, Kimura leaned forward to turn on the radio. If he was stuck in the truck with Miyaji then he might as well have something to distract himself from his impending death. As soon as he pressed the play button, loud pop music filled the car. The song sounded slightly familiar to Kimura's ears, but he couldn't recognize the group that was singing. This was odd. All of his life, he knew his parents to be the mellow, classical music type of people. He honestly had not expected _this_.

Miyaji, however, didn't seem to mind. He was singing along and dancing (or bouncing) in his seat along to the beat. "Turn up the volume!"

Kimura looked at him questioningly. "You know this song?"

"Of course!" Miyaji said, a wide grin on his face. "It's my favorite! This is my CD after all."

Well, at least that explained why the CD was in the truck. Kimura didn't know if he should happy that the CD wasn't his parents, or be disturbed about the fact that the CD's was Miyaji's. Though he should have known. Every time Kimura went over to the idiot's house he would be blaring some deafening idol group songs. Maybe that's why Kimura thought it had sounded familiar earlier.

He doesn't ask anything else, since he'd rather Miyaji pay attention to the road instead of talking. Miyaji had limited brain capacity, after all. Tell him to do too many things at once and he shuts down. Kimura smiled at the thought and even chuckled a little, gaining Miyaji's attention.

Miyaji glanced at him with a suspicious look. "What are you laughing about?"

Kimura shook his head, quickly saying that it was nothing. If Miyaji knew what had been going through Kimura's head, he'd purposefully crash to kill the both of them out of spite. Miyaji always did have an anger problem. Kimura involuntarily chuckled again. His thoughts were just too funny sometimes.

The blond teen looked at his friend with narrowed eyes. "You're acting weird today," Miyaji commented. He suddenly stepped on the brake, which would've cause Kimura to fly forward through the windshield had he not been wearing his seat belt.

"Maybe it's because you drive like a psycho!" Kimura shouted. He pointed at the stop light in front of them and agitatedly asked, "Do you not see these things? Are you blind?"

The light turned green and Miyaji continued to drive. "I'm hungry," he said, ignoring everything Kimura had been telling him. True to his word, Miyaji's stomach growled and he patted it with a grin. "Let's go get something to eat."

Kimura sighed but nodded his head. He wanted to go home, but a late night snack before he did so wouldn't hurt. He spotted a convenience store up ahead on the right and pointed to it. "Stop there," he said.

Miyaji pulled into the parking lot with ease, surprising Kimura. Green and red neon lights reflected onto the car as Miyaji slowly tried to find a parking space. He eventually gave up and just pulled into a handicap parking spot near the front of the store, much to Kimura's dismay.

"We can't park here. There's a parking spot right up there. This clearly says that it's for disabled people." He gave Miyaji a look that could scare even Ootsubo, but Miyaji wasn't phased. In fact, he seemed rather nonchalant about the whole thing.

"This isn't parking," Miyaji said with a shrug. He opened the door and started to step out of the car. "Since you're still in the truck, it's considered 'waiting'. Besides, I'll be gone for like, two minutes, tops. "

Kimura groaned. Why was it always him that got the bad end of the bargain? Why did Miyaji like to do this to him so much? Why did he put himself in these kinds of situations? "Miyaji, I really doubt that. Can't you just move the truck?"

"'_Can't you just move the truck'?_" Miyaji mocked, and Kimura rolled his eyes at his childishness. "Are you questioning my knowledge of the rules of the road?" he asked, annoyance seeping into his tone. He put a hand on his hip, and glowered at Kimura with eyes that could kill. "_I_ was the one that passed the driver's test."

"I seriously doubt that too..." Kimura muttered. All he got in return was the sound of the driver's side door slamming shut.

Kimura sighed and leaned back in the seat. He watched as Miyaji disappeared into the store and then momentarily considered moving the truck himself, but thought better of it. Miyaji would probably throw a tantrum if he knew Kimura decided to go against him and move the truck. Besides, Kimura didn't have his license and he'd rather let Miyaji do all the driving, even if it meant there was a chance he might die.

Ten minutes later and Miyaji was still inside of the store. Kimura groaned and squinted his eyes and craned his neck, trying to get a glimpse inside the 7/11, but he couldn't spot his blond friend. What in the world was Miyaji buying in there, the whole store? What was taking him so long?

It was only when Kimura started to unbuckle his seat belt to go in there and drag Miyaji out of there himself did Miyaji appear again. He was holding only two items, a bag of chips and an awfully small bottle of Coke for two people. Those things should've taken ten seconds to buy, not ten minutes!

Kimura narrowed his eyes as Miyaji climbed back inside of the truck. "What took you so long? You were in there for more than ten minutes."

Miyaji started to back out of their illegal parking space. "The cashier was cute," he said with a victorious look on his face. It was then that Kimura noticed the series of numbers,which Kimura assumed was a cellphone number, scribbled messily on Miyaji's left hand.

With a roll of his eyes, he picked up the bottle of soda and unscrewed it, taking a rather large sip. Miyaji noticed this and looked at him irritatedly. "So why do you only have enough food for one person?" Kimura asked, taking another long sip.

"Because I didn't have enough money. So if you don't mind-" Miyaji stopped at a stop sign and quickly grabbed his soda back, "-I'd like it if you didn't drink all of my Coke."

Kimura grumbled something about Miyaji spilling some of the drink on him, but otherwise didn't say anything else. He was far too tired to deal with Miyaji's shit. "Can you just take me home?" he asked. There was a pleading edge to his voice, and it was unnerving to hear.

"Yeah, yeah, fine." Miyaji said quickly. The last thing he wanted was to have to hear Kimura whine to him. It was a rarity, but whenever it did happen it was creepy. "I'm taking you home now, you big loser." Kimura swore he heard Miyaji say something about him being a party pooper, but he wasn't sure.

The long way and a few accidentally on purpose missed turns later, they finally made it back to Kimura's neighborhood. Miyaji cut off the engine and coasted to a rest in the same spot the truck had been in a few hours before. He didn't want to wake any one up with the noise and didn't want to raise any suspicion that the truck had been moved at all.

Kimura immediately hopped out of the truck, thankful that he had made it home in one piece. Miyaji slowly got out after him, reluctant to leave. He had always wanted to drive the truck, and now that he finally got the chance to, he never wanted it to end.

"Give me the keys," Kimura demanded as soon as Miyaji stood in front of him. Kimura didn't want to take anymore chances. He held his hand out expectantly.

Miyaji rolled his eyes but held out the keys anyway. He stopped short of dropping the key's into Kimura's open hand and grinned mischievously. "What if I just accidentally threw the keys over the neighbor's fence? Would you be mad?" One look at Kimura's face confirmed to Miyaji that yes, he would be very mad.

"Miyaji, give me the keys." Kimura sent Miyaji a look that told him he wasn't messing around.

He grumbled but dropped the keys into Kimura's hand.

Or, at least, it was _supposed_ to go into Kimura's hand.

But it didn't. Instead, it fell of the side of his palm and landed precariously between the slats of the storm drain they were stupidly standing over. Kimura's breath hitched, but the keys were still on top of the slats, so it was okay. He leaned down to pick it up and then-

_Splash!_

The keys fell through, splashing into the water below.

Time stayed still for a bit while Miyaji and Kimura both tried to process what had just happened.

Miyaji was the first to figure it out. "Oh, man, that sucks," he said, slowly backing away from the still frozen Kimura. "But I've got to go. I'll see you later. Bye!" And he ran.

Kimura regained his senses a second too late. Miyaji was already too far down the street and chasing after him now would be pointless. Kimura could always just get him on Monday during practice. Throw a ball at his face, or something. For now, he would just sneak back into his house and hope to god that his parents wouldn't notice their missing car keys.

The next day, Kimura's parents frantically searched the house for their keys. They always put it on the little hook by the counter every day after work, but somehow they had misplaced it. They had even asked Kimura if he had seen their keys, but he just shook his head and told them that he hadn't.

In the end they had to use a spare set of keys they had, and Kimura breathed a sigh of relief. Though he knew that the initial problem was over with, he still followed them outside just in case they noticed something he hadn't the night before.

"I could've sworn we parked on the other side of the street." He heard his mom mutter, and his heart skipped a beat.

Thankfully, his dad swooped in to save the day. "We must be losing our minds, honey." They both laughed, and Kimura nervously chuckled along.

His parents got into the truck and his dad started the car. He waved goodbye to his parents and started to walk back inside when he heard something that made him blanch.

Loud idol pop music was blasting from the truck's stereo, contrasting with the quietness of the Sunday morning.

_Damn Miyaji and his stupid obsession with girl idol groups!_

Kimura didn't even turn around and just ran back into the safety of his own home. His parents stared after their son in confusion, but they were even more confused as to what an idol group CD was doing in their truck.

During Monday's practice, Kimura's hand 'slipped' and the basketball he was passing to Takao hit Miyaji in the face. They both knew he deserved that.


	4. The Fourth Thing They Ruined

**A/N: **I wasn't going to post today because I wasn't finished with the original idea I had for this chapter (which had to do with Ootsubo and knitting). But that chapter was really hard to write and then I got this idea and it just flowed so well. So I trashed the other idea and wrote this and here it is! Ta-da! Anyway, I know there's not much Shutoku interaction this chapter, but I hope you'll forgive me! Haha, anyway it ended up being longer than intended but I hope that's okay. Thanks for reading and reviewing! You all are such lovely people for doing so~ Thank you, and enjoy this chapter!

_He should've just banned all of them. _

* * *

**iv. Ootsubo's sisters**

* * *

Ootsubo came home late that day on account that practice took longer than usual due to their coach announcing some things about their next games. When he walked in, he could already smell the deliciousness that was his mom's amazing cooking. He put his shoes by the door and dropped his backpack off into his room before he went into the bright and lively kitchen.

"Hey, Mom," he greeted and she gave him a tired smile in return. Ootsubo washed his hands and asked her what he could help with. She was always so tired yet she never settled for takeout, instead insisting on cooking for the family of five every night. He started chopping some carrots when he suddenly remembered what he had received that day. "Oh, yeah, we got our team picture today," he said.

"Oh, let me see it," she said, delighted. She always was fond of his teammates, especially the third years that Ootsubo had known ever since he entered Shutoku. "I can't believe it's been three years," she said with a sigh. "You've all grown up so much. And into such fine young men too."

Embarrassed, he didn't reply to her, and instead turned towards his sister. "Narumi," he called, gaining his youngest sister's attention. She stopped coloring and looked up at her older brother with big, questioning eyes. "Will you go get the photo packet I set on the table in the family room? Mom wants to see it."

She set her crayons down and ran off. Ootsubo, trusting that his sister could find it, asked his mother "Is Dad staying late at work again?"

His mom nodded, and Ootsubo could see the sadness in her eyes. "I'm afraid so. There's that big project in his workplace and he has to stay late every day this week."

Ootsubo just contained to chop the carrots and didn't ask anymore about his father and his work. He knew it was a sensitive topic for his mom. Instead, he asked about his eldest sister. "Is Onee-san home yet?"

Before his mother could answer, Yuriko, speak of the devil, came into the kitchen with two grocery bags. "Hey, Mom. Hey, Taisuke." She kissed her mother on the forehead and started to put away the groceries she bought. He assumed his mom had asked her to go buy them since she didn't live with them and had no reason to buy groceries.

Yuriko was a college student, having graduated two years before Ootsubo. She was a third year when he was a first year at Shutoku. Her university was close by, and she came home as often as she could, but most of the time her visits had to be restricted to weekends due to her busy schedule.

"How's school been?" their mom asked as she set down a large bowl of rice in the middle of the table.

But she was interrupted yet again when little Narumi ran into the kitchen, waving the basketball team's photos in her hand. "Nee-chan, Nee-chan!" she shouted excitedly, jumping into her older sister's arms. "I missed you!"

Yuriko laughed and spun Narumi around a few times before setting her down. "I missed you too, Narumi." She saw the packet that Narumi had carelessly dropped while being spun around and picked it up. "What's this?" she asked.

"It's just pictures for the basketball team," Ootsubo replied. He helped his mom set the table. "Mom said she wanted to see them."

Being the curious busy body that she was, Yuriko sat down at the table and pulled out the pictures. "Wow," she said as she took in all of the players in their orange Shutoku uniforms. The photo was taken in the gym, but even so, the Shutoku basketball club seemed to be too big for it. She pointed at Ootsubo who was standing front and center. "Aw, look at my brother in the middle with his number four jersey on. I'm proud of you, Taisuke," she complimented.

She pulled out another photo from the envelope packet, this one much more close up with only five players. "Is this the regulars?" she asked. Her eyes scanned over the glossy photo.

Ootsubo nodded as he took a seat next to his sister. Narumi jumped into his lap and he wrapped his arms around her. "There's two freshmen that are first-stringers this year." He pointed to Midorima and Takao.

"Who's this?" She pointed to the blond boy standing next to Ootsubo wearing a number eight jersey. "He looks familiar."

Ootsubo laughed. "Because you know him," he said. "That's Miyaji." He laughed again when Yuriko's eyes widened at the name.

"Miyaji? Miyaji Kiyoshi? The one that followed me around during your first year because he had a crush on me? _That _Miyaji?" She sounded shocked and confused, and Ootsubo could sense that she was struggling to understand what she had just found out.

Before she could say anything else, Narumi grabbed the photo and also pointed to Miyaji, shouting, "Nii-chan is the nicest!" Ootsubo frowned at the fact that his little sister thought so fondly of his devil teammate. At least she wasn't like this with Midorima, or worse, Takao. He had to look at the silver lining, after all.

"Narumi, you know him?" Yuriko asked.

Ootsubo answered for her. "He and the others come over for dinner sometimes."

"Are you talking about your friends, Taisuke?" his mother asked, inviting herself into the conversation. She looked at Yuriko and the fondness for the boys in her eyes was evident. "They're such lovely boys," she said with a smile. "You haven't invited them over in a while. I've missed them, tell them to come over sometime soon."

Ootsubo resisted the urge to roll his eyes and mumbled noncommittally that he would.

Yuriko was still staring at the picture – at the blond boy next Ootsubo – with a strange look in her eyes. It wasn't until their mother made a comment about how handsome the boys all were and Yuriko readily agreed that Ootsubo realized what that look was.

His older sister thought Miyaji was handsome.

"No!" he shouted when he came to realization. His mother and sisters looked at him weirdly. He had forgotten that he wasn't talking out loud and that no one else had realized what he had. He didn't care, though. All that mattered was that he get that idea out of Yuriko's head, and get it out quickly. "You can't like Miyaji," he said urgently.

Yuriko's eyes nearly fell out of her head when she heard what Ootsubo said. "What in the world are you talking about?"

"Really, Taisuke," his mom said, giving her son a look, "where did that come from?"

Ootsubo crossed his arms and stared at his sister, never once breaking eye contact as he said, "Miyaji is an awful, terrible person and you cannot think he's handsome or cute or whatever."

Yuriko laughed. "Is that it?"

Much to his dismay, his mother also giggled at him. "You're being ridiculous, Taisuke," she said, still laughing. "Kiyoshi is a wonderful boy. And very handsome too." She looked towards Yuriko for her input. "Don't you think so, Yuriko?"

Ootsubo wanted to die when he saw his sister nod yes. "He's grown up so much from when I knew him as a third year," she said. She looked at her brother with a wicked grin, and though she knew he was growing awkward with the direction the conversation was taking, she continued it. "He was such a scrawny little kid back then. Puberty did him well" she said, side glancing at Ootsubo to gauge his reaction. She grinned when she saw that he was steadily becoming more and more uncomfortable. "And he was so nice to me when we still went to school together." Ootsubo knew that that was a lie but he couldn't call her out on it. He was forced to keep his mouth shut. "I'd love to meet up with him, and the others, of course," she added when she saw Ootsubo glower at her.

"No, you can't. We're very busy and-"

"That's a great idea!" His mother spoke over him like his opinion didn't matter at all. "You should let Yuriko meet the boys. I'm sure they'll love to meet their captain's sister."

And when Yuriko asked to follow along to his practice that next day, he had no choice but to say yes.

The next day, brother and sister walked side by side towards Shutoku High School. Not a word was said between the two. Ootsubo was still trying to figure out a way to get his sister _not_ to come to practice. He had already tried telling her the night before that she'd only be a distraction to his team, but she had brushed it off and said she'd dress plainly with minimal makeup. Apparently, to Yuriko 'plainly' meant sky high heels with skinny jeans that accentuated her already long legs and a modest white top with a floral scarf. Ootsubo had told her to please,_ please_ change when she met him outside their house that morning, but she wasn't having a word of it and had simply walked past him.

He knew practice was going to be pointless that day.

"Too bad Kiyoshi-san is younger than me," she said suddenly. Ootsubo looked over to his older sister and frowned at the use of Miyaji's first name.

Passersby stared at Yuriko and Ootsubo possessively stepped closer to his sister, trying his best to ward off all unwanted attention. Yuriko laughed at this overprotective display. "You're awfully protective today," she stated, though she did nothing to deflect the attention herself. In fact, she seemed to revel in it.

"Yeah, well, my sister is too pretty for her own good," Ootsubo replied. He sent a glare to a teenage boy who had fallen off his bike due to apparently not being able to take his eyes off of Yuriko long enough to ride properly. "This is why I didn't want you to come to the basketball practice."

Yuriko just shrugged. "If you got it,, flaunt it." That did nothing to reassure Ootsubo.

"So, this Miyaji Kiyoshi, he's the same age as you, right?" Ootsubo groaned at Yuriko's choice of topic, but he nodded, confirming the fact. Yuriko pouted at this. "That's too bad. Kiyoshi-san is such a cutie." Ootsubo frowned again and was about to tell Yuriko to not call him that when she interrupted him. "I don't usually date younger guys, but I guess I can make an exception for someone as cute as him." Yuriko slyly grinned and Ootsubo wanted to throw up right then and there.

But he didn't. Instead, he merely said, "Miyaji is off limits."

Yuriko rolled her eyes. Ootsubo could tell she wasn't going down without a fight. "Fine," she said, surprising him. He had expected her to argue with him. He was about to tell her that she made the right decision because Miyaji wasn't anything special, but Yuriko opened her mouth to speak again. "What about that green-haired one? Mido-something? He's pretty cute too."

Ootsubo lost his balance and fell off the sidewalk.

"No, no, not him, either! He's only a first year!"

Again, Yuriko only shrugged. Ootsubo scowled, he was starting to get annoyed of her nonchalant shrugging. "Age is but a number, Taisuke. Besides, four years isn't that big of a deal."

Ootsubo didn't reply, and instead pulled his phone out of his pocket. He dialed Miyaji's number, ready to tell him to not come to practice that day. He was going to do the same to Midorima too. He was seconds away from pressing the call button when he realized that Yuriko would figure out what he had done and she would tell their mother. He'd be worse off than if he just let Yuriko meet them.

The moment the Ootsubo siblings entered the gym, all eyes were on them. Well, they were actually on Yuriko, but Ootsubo convinced himself that they were looking at him and not her, lest he had to kick someone's ass for looking at his sister.

Yuriko delighted in the attention she was getting, as if she didn't get enough of it on the way there. Ootsubo was standing next to her, ignored and fuming. It was then that his worst nightmare decided to stroll up to the good-looking siblings.

"Captain!" Miyaji greeted. He had already flashed Yuriko an award winning smile. "Who is this? Such a pretty girl couldn't be your girlfriend!"

Ootsubo wanted to throttle Miyaji, but barely contained himself. "This is my sister, Yu-"

Yuriko pushed him out of the way and extended a hand to the handsome blond in front of her. "Ootsubo Yuriko, nice to see you again, Kiyoshi-san." She gave him her signature smile, the one that made every boy in a fifty feet diameter melt and go weak at the knees.

"You know who I am?" Miyaji asked, shocked. "I don't-" His sentence broke off when he realized just exactly who he was talking to. His cheeks tinted slightly at the realization that the girl in front of him was the same one he had harbored a crush on two years back. "Ah, I remember now..." he said. Miyaji already started to back away. There was no way she would like him now. Not after how embarrassing he had acted in the past.

Surprisingly (and much to Ootsubo's growing despair) Yuriko laughed, not in a harsh and condescending way Miyaji had expected, but in a light, tinkling way that made him remember why he had fallen for her back then. "It's okay," she said, reassuring him with another smile. "That's all in the past. How can I stay upset at someone who has grown up so well?" Her eyes shamelessly scanned Miyaji's well toned body.

Ootsubo clenched his fist. He was hoping for something to come up from the floor and swallow Miyaji, but nothing of the sort happened and his teammate just continued to flirt with his older sister. Ootsubo felt himself going crazy.

"You can sit here," he said suddenly, interrupting the two. Yuriko looked at him curiously and he just pushed her down onto a nearby bleacher. "And you," Ootsubo said, giving Miyaji the stink eye, "can go run laps."

Miyaji looked at him with wide eyes. "That's unfair! Why do I have to run?"

"Because I said so," Ootsubo said. Yuriko giggled behind him and Ootsubo wished that he had duct tape or something to cover her mouth. Every time she even made a sound, another boy turned into a love struck fool, and the Shutoku team had enough fools on their team already without her help, thank you very much.

Miyaji groaned and started to jog, but not before winking at Ootsubo's sister, plainly ignoring the fact that Ootsubo was _standing right there_. And he was seething.

"You can run until you puke!" he shouted after the overconfident bastard.

Practice was terrible that day.

With Yuriko sitting right under the basket, the boys couldn't focus when they shot. It was partly Ootsubo's fault, he knew, because he was the one that told her to sit there and to not move no matter what (something she had used against him when he asked her to move earlier).

Miyaji was still running around the gym, but that did nothing to deter him from engaging in flirty banter here and there with Yuriko while Ootsubo wasn't looking.

By the time practice ended, Ootsubo knew he was doomed. His sister had managed to somehow get Miyaji alone long enough to get his number. Ootsubo knew this because she had waved a little white piece of paper at him with a smirk as he was walking into the locker room. The fact was only more confirmed when Miyaji said to him, "Nice work today, brother in law," and patted him on the back.

Ootsubo wanted to strangle him.

Miyaji and Yuriko went on a few dates. Ootsubo regrettably knew this because he'd get told twice every time they did. His sister would text him with a coy message like _'Guess who I'm out with' _complete with a wink and everything, and Miyaji would brag about their date the next day during practice.

However, they stopped seeing each other a few weeks later when they both accused the other of flirting with other people (that's what you get when you put too overly vain and confident people together who enjoyed attention a bit too much), so Ootsubo didn't have to worry about Miyaji becoming his brother in law or something awful like that. But that fact alone wasn't enough to overlook the fact that Miyaji had messed with his older sister, and even broke her heart (well, not really, but that was the excuse Ootsubo used when he kicked Miyaji's ass after he found out that they were no longer an item).

An unspoken rule was established in the basketball club from there on out: all siblings of players were off limits, especially to Miyaji.

Also, no more hot sisters were allowed at practice.

The next time Miyaji came over was also when Yuriko was home from college. Dinner was awkward and Ootsubo didn't know whether to be happy that Miyaji and Yuriko were no longer dating or be upset that they had ruined dinner. Ootsubo didn't know which one was the lesser of two evils anymore.

But at least he knew that his sisters were safe from his teammates prying eyes. That is, until Narumi one day asked if Midorima had a girlfriend and whether or not she was old enough to have a boyfriend yet.

Midorima was there forth banned from Ootsubo's house, and he didn't even know why.


	5. The Fifth Thing They Ruined

**A/N: **Noooo, it's the last chapter in the Shutoku arc of this series. This was honestly such a blast to write. Compared to Kaijou's, I don't know which one was more fun, but this was amazing. Thank you to everyone who has read and favorited and reviewed. You all are such lovely folks. Please do tell me what you thought about the whole story? Like it? Hate it? Tell me! I'd love to hear everyone's opinions so I can write future stories with the criticism in mind. But thanks again to everyone who read and liked the story.

Also, to anyone interested, the first chapter of FIVE THINGS TOUOU RUINED is now posted. So go check that out! Now onto the chapter~

_They took away his only joy in life._

* * *

**v. Miyaji's threats**

* * *

"What do you mean I can't threaten the brats anymore?!"

Three first stringers took a step backwards from the fuming small forward, except for Ootsubo, who bravely stood his ground. The other players glanced in the direction they had heard the shouting, but the moment they saw Miyaji's angry face they looked away. No one wanted to pulled into that mess.

It was after practice ended, but the players were still in the gym. It was during the down time the team had as they put away the basketballs, mopped the floors, and did whatever else they needed to make sure the gym was in top condition for their next practice. While the rest of the team were busy cleaning up, the first stringers were stupidly trying to win an argument against Miyaji.

Miyaji was standing in front of the rest of the regular team. A hardened jaw and narrowed eyes graced his face as he glared at all them. He would give them hell for this.

"You need to stop threatening the younger players every time they do something wrong. I'm getting complaints from parents ever since you made that one freshman cry," Ootsubo explained again. Honestly, it wasn't the complaints from parents that were bad, it was the fact that Ootsubo couldn't go one day without hearing Miyaji's annoying and over said phrases that was really the issue.

Miyaji crossed his arms and stuck out his tongue childishly. "You can't stop me from saying something! You're not the boss of me!" He then uncrossed his arms and plugged his fingers into his ears, shouting incoherently as he walked towards the locker room.

Miyaji often reverted back to the mindset of a five year old once someone said something he didn't want to hear. It was impossible to have a civil discussion with him. It was even worse to attempt to even fight against him.

But Ootsubo was having none of it. He had already pardoned Midorima's three ridiculous demands for the day and he wasn't about to do the same for his immature fellow third year. With a sigh, he ran after Miyaji. The other three looked at each, wondering if they should follow, but did so anyway. This wasn't going to be a conversation they were about to miss.

Ootsubo and Miyaji were already going at it by the time the other three regulars walked into the locker room. They had managed to pull innocent players into their fight now. Miyaji was speaking to Ootsubo through an extremely confused first year and Ootsubo was yelling into the ear of another.

"It's irritating to hear your stupid threats all the time! Especially the ones involving pineapples or Kimura's pickup truck!" Ootsubo argued. He scowled and gave Miyaji a harsh look, though the small forward was paying no attention. "Can't you be nice to your teammates for once?"

Hearing this, Miyaji spun around and glowered at his captain. He pushed the poor first year he had been using to speak to Ootsubo away, and the kid ran like the wind. Miyaji paid him no heed, but Ootsubo sighed and made a mental note to apologize to the kid the next day. "You can't tel me what I can or can't say!" Miyaji retorted. "You're violating my right of free speech!"

"Yeah, well you're violating my right to have a peaceful and hostile-free practice!" Ootsubo countered. "It'd be nice to come to practice without someone telling me you threatened another one of our teammates!" he shouted. Ootsubo then closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself down. He knew that the more agitated he got, the more Miyaji would start to ignore him. "Look," he said, much more calmly than before, "just try to be nice for a week or something. After that we can figure something out. You threaten someone and I'll make you run two laps for each threat. Got it?"

Without even waiting for an answer, the Shutoku captain grabbed his school bag and left. He didn't want to wait around for Miyaji to come up with another way to weasel his way out of the new policy. He knew that if he stayed any longer, Miyaji would use those persuasion skills of his to make him revoke his new rule.

Miyaji was left in the locker room and he was not happy. The rest of the team scrambled to pick up their stuff and get out of Miyaji's line of sight as soon as possible. Miyaji was yelling and cursing Ootsubo, calling him every name under the son. It didn't matter to him that just a minute ago Ootsubo had told him to be nice. He wasn't there, and the others were too scared to snitch on him.

But a second later, Miyaji's phone dinged and a text message from the dear captain himself popped up on the screen.

_[Ootsubo: You're really loud, you know that? Two extra laps for you tomorrow.]_

Miyaji wanted to scream, he wanted to text back, but he knew he couldn't. He'd only manage to earn himself some extra laps if he did that. Believe it or not, Miyaji was an even more harsh person over text. There was just something about the fact that he couldn't physically see the person he was texting that made him so much meaner. He refused to give Ootsubo the satisfaction of punishing him some more.

That next day, Miyaji hadn't even stepped foot into the gym when Ootsubo appeared behind him and reminded him about the four extra laps he were to run.

"Eh?" Miyaji immediately spun on his heels and stared up at his captain with an annoyed but confused look. "Four? You said I had to run two yesterday! How'd it become four?!"

Ootsubo looked indifferent to the interrogation he was being put through and merely shrugged. But he saw Miyaji look like he was going to snap, so he offered an explanation. "Kimura told me you said it during class today." He gave Miyaji a disapproving look. "You really shouldn't say things like that to your teachers, Miyaji."

At that moment, an unsuspecting Kimura walked up to the duo with a broad grin. "Ready for practice?" He slung an arm around Miyaji's shoulders, evidently not noticing the terrifying aura Miyaji was emitting. He did notice, however, when Miyaji slowly turned his head towards him and looked at him with murder in his eyes.

Kimura started to run even though he had no idea what he had done. All he knew was that when Miyaji started to look like he'd want to strangle you, he probably would. So it was best to just run.

Miyaji didn't hesitate to chase after him. "Come back here! I'll run you over with a truck for ratting me out like that!"

"Make that six laps," Ootsubo said with a long, drawn out sigh. He was starting to think that his punishments weren't going to work on Miyaji. With reluctance in his footsteps, the Shutoku captain walked towards the gym knowing that it was going to be yet another long practice.

When Ootsubo got into the gym, he was surprised to see Miyaji already in his practice clothes and running his laps. He hadn't expected Miyaji to run without some pushing on his own part.

With a satisfied smile, Ootsubo walked towards the locker room. He just so happened to be walked past the supply closet when he heard muffled yelling and thumping coming from inside.

Ootsubo paused and furrowed his brows. Had he heard right? He waited, but no sound came from it so he deduced it to be his imagination. But just as he started to walk on, he heard a clear yell for help coming from inside.

"What the-" He hurriedly opened the doors to the supply room and nearly had a heart attack at the sight in front of him. Inside the supply closet was Kimura, who shoved inside a basketball cart. Apparently, he had been pushed back and was stuck, seeing as how his legs and arms were dangling uselessly from the sides of the cart.

"Captain!" he shouted. His eyes literally sparkled a the sight of someone there to help him. "I'm stuck! Please help me!"

However, much to Kimura's dismay, Ootsubo only turned back around and shouted, "Miyaji!" Ootsubo knew exactly who the culprit was without even having to ask.

Miyaji seemed to know what he done and didn't even flinch when he heard his name called. He just calmly jogged over to Ootsubo and the still stuck Kimura.

Ootsubo's yell attracted the attention of the rest of the team and they also swarmed over to the scene, Takao and Midorima included. As soon as Takao saw the current state of Kimura, he busted out laughing. "Having problems, Senpai?"

Kimura just growled and motioned for the two freshman to come closer. "Just shut up and help me out!"

By that time, Miyaji had also made it over. He didn't say anything and just looked at his captain expectantly.

"Miyaji," Ootsubo said, sighing again. He sounded so done with everything. Just by the way their captain said Miyaji's name, the team knew that Ootsubo was one hundred and ten percent ready to go home. If only practice hadn't just started ten minutes ago.

"What?" Miyaji asked gruffly. Obviously, he was still peeved at being forced to run. "If you want me to finish my laps then you shouldn't interrupt me."

Ootsubo pointed to Kimura, who was being helped out of the basketball cart by Takao and Midorima. "I thought I told you to be nice." Once again he pointed a finger at Kimura. "Shoving your teammates into a basketball cart is not playing nice!"

Miyaji looked away and muttered something no one could make out. Ootsubo knew it was most likely another threat, but decided to just let it go.

"Well, for this you get another two laps."

Miyaji looked at with him wide eyes. "That's not fair! You said no more threats, and I didn't threaten him! It was a legal play!" Miyaji argued.

Ootsubo couldn't believe what he was hearing. The sad thing was, Ootsubo knew that Miyaji probably believed every single word coming from his own mouth.

"I am not in the mood to deal with this. Just go run," he ordered, walking away with a dismissive wave. The rest of the team took this as a sign to continue practice. Miyaji, however, did not back down that easily.

"What's wrong with me threatening the others every once in a while?" Kimura wanted to point out that it was actually very common for Miyaji to threaten his teammates, but his butt was sore from being stuck in the cart and he'd rather not be shoved back into it. "It makes me happy. Why would you guys take away my only joy in life?" he said dramatically.

That was it. That was the famous Miyaji tantrum that the first years had heard so many rumors about but had yet to see for themselves. Much like when he was arguing, when Miyaji got upset or things didn't go his way, he'd throw a tantrum as if he was still a child or something. He didn't do it often because even he knew it was embarrassing, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

No one pointed out that there was something really wrong with the fact that Miyaji actually _enjoyed_ to make his teammates become scared for their lives. But Midorima _did _point out that Miyaji seriously sounded like his old teammate, Kise. "Whenever he throws tantrums he looks like a five year old too," Midorima muttered, wondering how he managed to get stuck with the most idiotic and immature teammates. Luck was obviously had no been on his side when he had decided to attend Teikou and Shutoku.

Miyaji's demeanor changed so quickly that it startled everyone into taking a step back. "What did you say, brat?! Don't compare me to one of your Generation of Miracle friends!"

A sigh of relief was shared by everyone. A mean and rude Miyaji was much preferred over a tantrum throwing one.

Miyaji turned his wrath onto the nosy players. "What are you all doing? Go practice instead of standing here like the lazy athletes you are!"

They scattered like mice.

Ootsubo, who had not said anything during Miyaji's fit, finally spoke up. "You're never going to change, are you?" he asked in a defeated tone.

Miyaji just scowled at him in a _'what do you think'_ way and that was all the confirmation Ootsubo needed.

With a sigh, he nodded for the rest of the team to start practicing, even Miyaji. "You don't have to run anymore. I won't force you not to threaten your teammates, but try to be nicer, will you?"

The small forward smirked and with a flippant wave of his hand, said, "When am I ever not nice?"

Ootsubo prepared himself for the onslaught of phone calls from concerned parents he was bound to be getting now that Miyaji was free to say whatever he wanted.

He rubbed his temples as he went to go change. While Miyaji was most definitely happy about getting the 'joy' back into his life, like he said, Ootsubo was anything but happy about the pounding headaches he was getting because of these joys of Miyaji's.

"Hey freshmen! You wanna get hit with a pineapple? If not, stop missing your shots!"

Ootsubo sighed and paused, ready to tell Miyaji to run two laps when he realized that his rule was no longer in effect. Oh, how he wished it still was. He continued walking and had only opened the door to the locker room when he heard, "Kimura, give me a pineapple! These freshmen don't know a serious threat when they hear one!"

Ootsubo wondered how many complaints he'd be getting that night and whether or not he could just route those calls to Miyaji's number. Takao probably could do it. That kid was good with technology after all.

"Do you want to die, second years? You're even worse than the first years right now!"

Ootsubo nodded to himself. Yep, he was definitely getting Takao to route those calls to Miyaji's number now.


End file.
